Stealing (Rescuing) Children
by bashfulglowfly
Summary: Orochimaru has a habit of taking children for their own good. And in taking his latest child, he's aided and abetted by Tsunade and Jiraiya.


**Stealing (Rescuing) Children**

 **By Bashfulglowfly**

The three Sannin entered the dilapidated house. Tsunade gagged as the stench almost overwhelmed her. "Ugh!"

"Breathe through your mouth." Advised Jiraiya as he stepped over a person of indeterminate gender that was sprawled on the dirty floor.

"How can someone even stand to come in here voluntarily?" She asked.

"The Gods only know." Said Orochimaru. "But we don't have much room to talk since there are Witches who aren't much better than these Mundanes." He paused for a moment then looked up. "She's upstairs."

Orochimaru didn't usually bring his teammates along on these missions but Tsunade and Jiraiya had been with him when Genma rushed into his house talking about the infant that he seen in a hospital nursery when he'd been touring the Mundane hospital conducting a security review that was his job as a security consultant.

It was rare that a Witch was born to Mundanes but it did happen. Orochimaru was already parent to three examples of that. Fortunately, he'd gotten Anko and Kabuto while they were still too young to be damaged but his oldest child, Tenzo, was nine years old before he was found in a psychiatric hospital. The boy kept insisting that plants and trees spoke to him. His parents took him to doctor after doctor who gave him drug after drug to "bring him to normal."

The final straw for his Mundane parents happened when Tenzo was attacked by other children and when the four children were found, Tenzo had a black eye but the other three children had been severely beaten and nearly strangled. When Tenzo said that it was a tree that had broken their bones and that ivy had done the strangling, his parents had him locked away. The physiatrist in charge of his case made sure that Tenzo was heavily drugged and kept in a room with no windows.

It was a complete accident that Tenzo had been found. They had been looking for a Witch that had developed a bad case of Rowting Fever that made him decide that striping naked and running down a freeway was a good idea. The air elemental that Orochimaru used to search the hospital brought word that it had found the Witch but when they entered the room, they'd found the drugged little boy.

Jiraiya questioned the intelligence of the small elemental but Tsunade Saw something that Jiraiya didn't. A Magical glow that fought with the drugs in the boy's system. A quick spell later that proved that the boy was a Witch. Without saying a word, Orochimaru picked up the unconscious boy and was daring his teammates to say anything. Orochimaru took the boy home while Tsunade and Jiraiya retrieved the one that they had originally come for.

It had been a year since Orochimaru had adopted Tenzo. It took over a month to wean the boy off the multitude of drugs that he'd been given. It was rare for the boy to talk or even smile. But Orochimaru made sure that there were plants in every room of the house and gave the boy his own little garden to tend. He used the condition of the plants to judge how Tenzo was feeling.

He hoped that bringing this latest child wouldn't upset Tenzo or make him think that he wasn't loved.

The trio carefully but quickly went up the stairs, avoiding holding onto the rickety railing. As they began to walk down the hall, they heard the wail of a small infant.

Jiraiya had to dodge out of the way as Orochimaru practically flew past him and kicked open a door. The wail grew louder. Tsunade and Jiraiya entered the room just as Orochimaru picked up a tiny infant from a cardboard box on the floor. Orochimaru crooned to the baby softly but his golden eyes were furious when he looked at his teammates. "We got here in time but she'll need medical attention."

"Fucking junkies." Jiraiya snarled. He glared at the couple passed out on filthy cushions in the corner of the room. "We should have gotten her sooner."

"Preaching to the choir." Said Tsunade "But this is a lot easier than getting into and taking her from a Mundane hospital." She looked closely at the dirty, naked baby in Orochimaru's arms then her hands started to move. After several gestures a Changeling appeared in the box. "This should cover our tracks."

Jiraiya frowned then made his own gestures and the Changeling looked like it had been chewed on by rats then died from blood loss. "It will make it harder during the autopsy the Mundanes will order." He looked at his friends. "I take it we have someone ready to call the police to raid this place?"

Tsunade nodded.

"Let's go."

The three Witches disappeared from the room.

8888888

Orochimaru was relieved that his newest child was healthy despite being born to Mundane junkies. The Healers were superb in making sure that there would not be any complications due to the neglect she'd suffered. They did warn him that being born to addicted parents, even though they were Mundane, might lead her to becoming addicted things common to Witches. But he was allowed to bring her home.

The other three children surrounded him as he fed the baby with a bottle. "I'm going to need all of you to help me take care of her."

"Tiny." Murmured Tenzo.

"Well, she's only a week old." Replied Orochimaru.

Anko, who was draped across the top of the chair with her hands on Orochimaru's shoulder, asked "What's her name, Daddy?"

"Well, I thought I'd let Tenzo pick."

Anko pouted.

Orochimaru smiled up at her then smiled at the silver haired boy who was carefully studying the tiny hand that was wrapped around his index finger. "You named both of your brothers, so I think it's only fair that Tenzo pick this time."

Kabuto pushed at his glasses. "Does that mean if you adopt another, I can name him or her?"

"Yes."

Kabuto smiled then looked at his older brother. "What's her name, 'Zo?"

Tenzo ran a careful hand across the fine pink hair. "Sakura."

"That's just obvious." Cried Anko.

Tenzo simply shrugged. He was used to Anko objecting to pretty much everything anyone did.

Orochimaru looked into the green eyes that were beginning to fog over with sleep. "Sakura is perfect."


End file.
